Prior to the 17th century
the concept of childhood as an independent phase of life did not exist and it
was not until the 18th century that education of children would dramatically
improve. Pivotal to the alteration in attitude was the publication of the great
Enlightenment philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau’s Émile, or On Education in 1762; his ideas would
critically influence European society during the Age of Reason and especially
the Romantic movement of the latter part of the 18th and
early 19th centuries.

In the same year
Rosseau’s Emile was published,
Frederich Bertuch’s father died and he moved to the home of his uncle the
literary publisher Gottfried Schrön where he soon acquired a great love of
literature and natural philosophy. In 1775 he issued his translation of Miguel
de Cervantes Saavedra’s Don Qixote; a
significant work to the Romantic movement. In that same year, he became private
secretary to the Duke of Saxe Weimar who funded his Fürstliche freie Zeichenschule Weimar (Weimer
Princely Free Drawing School), unusually accepting students on merit not status
with the particular aim of teaching local craftsmen technical skills and
aesthetics – the philosophy of beauty and taste. Under the Duke’s patronage
Weimer became the intellectual hub of Germany and Bertuch one of its most
important citizens, establishing an art factory and publishing many titles
including Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung, the
most influential literary newspaper of its time with important philosophers
such as Johann von Goethe and Frederich Schiller contributing.

From 1792 Bertuch issued
in instalments the Bilderbuch für Kinder; a
children’s picture book of coloured and uncoloured plates illustrating the arts
and sciences with an emphasis on natural history, innovation and lesser known
objects to inspire an enthusiasm for the unknown. Produced by the teachers and
students of the Zeichenschule, the Bilderbuch was designed to be presented in
unbound parts and treated more as a toy to play with; the uncoloured
illustrations to be coloured, the images even cut out and pasted onto card.
This was a substantial departure from earlier children’s books which emphasized
saving souls through moral instruction and model behaviour.

In 1806 Bertuch’s
aspirations for his enterprises were cut short by Napoleon’s defeat of Prussian
forces at Jena and Auerstedt, bringing an end to the Holy Roman Empire and
heralding the decline of Weimer. In that same year the Bohemian editors Pohmann
and Hollaubeck ‘republished’ Bertuch’s Bilderbuch without
permission but under his name; the ‘stolen goods’ were crude and ‘despicably’
inferior. Bertuch repeatedly issued angry denunciations but to no avail.
Following the death of his only son and business partner Carl in 1815 and
unable to establish consistent copyright legislation to protect his works, his
literary enthusiasm faltered. He died in 1822 and was buried in his beloved
garden.

In his lifetime Bertuch
modestly described himself as a ‘literary midwife’ but his contribution to
education, the arts and the dissemination of Enlightenment ideals was
significant. His Bilderbuch für Kinder remains
one of the best examples of illustrated children’s books and a delightful
visualization of the individual endeavour and philosophical discourse that
defined the Age of Reason.